BBC Monday, 2 April, 2001, 22:38 GMT 23:38 UK

Gun battles rage in Bethlehem

Tensions remain at boiling point in the West Bank An Israeli soldier has been killed in a fierce gun battle with Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

At least six Palestinians were injured in the clashes, in which Israeli tanks fired shells into the town centre, sending up clouds of black smoke.

A tourist hotel was struck and two floors were destroyed. Two Palestinian refugee camps were also targeted.

At least two children were among the injured. A Palestinian medic said a young girl had been critically wounded in the eye, chest and pelvis.

A BBC correspondent on the scene said it was one of the worst battles in Bethlehem so far.

Earlier, an Israeli helicopter gunship fired rockets into a Palestinian car in the Gaza Strip, killing a member of the militant Islamic Jihad group.

Witnesses said Mohammed Abdel Al's car was reduced to cinders.

Retaliation

A Jihad official told the AFP news agency there would be "strong and appropriate" revenge for the death of one of their militants.

The attack followed Sunday's seizure of at least five members of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's elite Force 17 bodyguard unit.

They were taken by Israeli security men while they were manning a checkpoint near the West Bank town of Ramallah.

In Bethlehem, clashes between stone-throwing Palestinian youths and Israeli soldiers erupted near the Jewish holy site of Rachel's Tomb.

The confrontation then escalated into a full-scale fire-fight.

The BBC's Jeremy Cooke in Jerusalem says the Israeli army has blamed the Palestinians for what it calls a serious escalation in the fighting.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian official in Bethlehem said the Israeli army directed heavy fire towards refugee camps in northern Bethlehem after what he described as a peaceful protest.

Accusations

The Palestinians accuse Israel of assassinating more than a dozen activists since the beginning of the uprising six months ago, including Jihad militants, Force 17 officers and members of Mr Arafat's Fatah movement.

Fighting raged overnight with several shooting incidents reported.

After Palestinians and Israelis buried children killed in confrontations last week, an Israeli soldier was killed by Palestinian gunfire near the village of Salem, outside the West Bank town of Nablus.

A leaflet distributed by a group calling itself the "Return Brigade" claimed to be avenging the death of five Palestinians during the past week.

In the divided West Bank town of Hebron a gas canister exploded in a Palestinian shop, in an attack by suspected Jewish settlers. Six Israeli policemen were injured.

Crackdown

Our correspondent says Monday's rocket attack is part of Israel's new tougher policy of cracking down on Palestinians thought to be responsible for anti-Israeli attacks.

Jihad admitted carrying out one of two bomb attacks in Jerusalem last week.

The Israeli army has not commented on the killing of Mr Abdel Al.

-- Anonymous, April 02, 2001